Missouri Politicians Defend Tax Bill

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt is defending the republican tax plan, as he and his colleagues iron out differences between house and senate versions

“The government can needlessly get in the way of so many things. We said at the very first, what we want to do with this tax bill was see that working families have more take home pay and had that immediately,” he says.

Blunt says Missourians will see the dollar figure on their paychecks increase early next year, presumably from lower income taxes, and that will be the proof for skeptics who don’t believe there’ll be any benefit for the working class. He spoke at a Washington D.C. news conference.

Missouri Congressman Jason Smith says most of his constituents use the standard deduction when filing their taxes and the plan that passed the Senate will make things easier for them.

The standard deduction would rise to $12 thousand for an individual, $24 thousand for a married couple. Smith says too many people are using deductions to play the system.

“There’s numerous people out there that have used the system, manipulated the system, to get and push these carve outs that they’ve been able to pay these high price attorneys and accountants so that they end up paying little to no taxes, and these are the ones that have been beating the system,” he says.

President Trump last week in St. Charles said all workers will have a larger paycheck come 2018. But Smith says all brackets will see a cut, but it’s impossible to guarantee every person will see a cut.